Twitter Book Club: Thomss J. Sergiovanni (1992) Moral Leadership: Getting to the Heart of School Improvement - Ch 3

The Sources of Authority for Leadership

"Leaders prefer that the led do not ask 'why' questions." Thomas J. Sergiovanniless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@anderscj "Leaders prefer that the led do not ask 'why' questions." Thomas J. Sergiovanni #leadershipchatless than a minute ago via webJosieHolford
JosieHolford

The why question has gotten me in my share of trouble.

"When we base our leadership practice on bureaucratic authority, teachers respond appropriately or face the consequ... http://tl.gd/7u8d8aless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
anderscj

Isn't this exactly what all U.S. schools have been made to respond to under NCLB? Perhaps the hallmark of a strong leader in the age of NCLB is to what extent they shield their teaches and students from this unsavory mess from above.

"When we base our leadership practice on psychological authority, teachers are supposed to respond to our personali... http://tl.gd/7u8er9less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"When we base our leadership practice on [technical-rational or 'Instructional Leader'] authority, we expect teache... http://tl.gd/7u8glhless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
anderscj

As a teacher-researcher I am conflicted with this one. I do like research and I like for it to inform my practice. But, the field of education is too vast and too complex for even a large body of evidence to paint a full picture. There are just too many variables for there ever to be any definitive "best practice" or "research-proven" formula. In fact, if anything there is probably more evidence to back this statement than any amount of research pointing to one strategy or one curricula as a silver bullet.

"The true leader is one who builds in substitutes for 'follow me' leadership, which enable people to respond from w... http://tl.gd/7u8hvfless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"When leadership practice is based on professional authority, teachers can be expected to respond to common sociali... http://tl.gd/7u8jegless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"When leadership practice is based on moral authority, teachers can be expected to respond to shared commitments an... http://tl.gd/7u8k6dless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Teaching cannot be standardized. Like other professionals, teachers cannot become effective by following scripts. ... http://tl.gd/7u90mdless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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